Federal Voca Victim Assistance Grant Programs

OFFICE OF VICTIM SERVICES

FEDERAL VOCA VICTIM ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAMS

SEMI-ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT

Note: If Project Director is emailing the report, the certification statement must be included in the email.

The following questions (1 through 8) are to be completed each January and July for the preceding six month reporting period.

1. Describe any earned media coverage events/episodes during the reporting period for the VOCA funded project.

Earned media coverage refers to media attention on radio, print, or TV that has not been purchased (e.g., Public Service Announcements). If an agency/organization holds a press conference and it appears in the local newspaper or is highlighted on TV, the media attention has been “earned” and not paid for.

2. Describe any coordinated responses/services for assisting crime victims during the reporting period.

Briefly describe agency activities for the VOCA funded project that includedcoordinated responses with other agencies (including other VOCA funded programs) within your service area to aid crime victims during the reporting period.

3. Please describe ways that your agency promoted the coordination of public and private efforts within the community to help crime victims during the reporting period.

Briefly describe any collaborations with other agencies in your service area to offer services to crime victims during the reporting period. Please highlight any new collaborations and efforts that were initiated during the period as well.

4. Using case histories or other descriptions, please discuss ways in which VOCA funds were used to assist crime victims during the reporting period. Please delete any identifying information.

Please include and/or attach anecdotal information for at least two individual case histories illustrating ways in which project funds have been used to assist crime victims during the reporting period. If your project provides services to multiple types of crime victims, (i.e., child abuse and domestic violence, or domestic violence and elder abuse, etc.) please provide anecdotes/case histories for more than one crime victimization.

5. Please describe agency efforts to serve victims of federal crimes during the reporting period.

Please discuss any protocols, working agreements, or collaborative efforts in place with federal agencies to provide services to victims of federal crimes. Include a case example of actual services, if appropriate. If your agency does not regularly work with federal victims of crime, please indicate what level of services would be provided if you were to serve a victim of a federal crime.

6. Please identify any emerging issues or notable trends affecting crime victim services in your service area during the reporting period.

Please identify any issues noted in the agency’s service area during the reporting period that could impact services (new populations, new service needs, cutbacks in services, etc.). These do not have to be specific to the VOCA project or the agency.

7. Please identify staff that started or ended employment in the VOCA funded project during the reporting period.

Please list the employee name, title, and the start or end date as appropriate. For new staff, include a copy of the resume with this report. Discuss what impact these staffing changes have had on service delivery during the reporting period.

8. Briefly outline any staffing retention issues that your victim assistance program had during the reporting period and why these issues may have occurred (e.g., high turnover due to insufficient salary, insufficient benefits, heavy workload, etc).

Please discuss any issues that maybe impacting the ability of your agency to retain staff for the VOCA funded project.

The following questions (9 through 15) are to be completed each July for the preceding twelve month reporting period.

For coalition based services, please submit a separate report for each member center with responses to questions 9 through 14.

9. Please discuss some of the challenges your victim assistance program faced during the course of the year.

Please discuss any project-specific issues that impacted services, clients, etc., for the VOCA funded project during the report period. General agency issuesshould be addressed in question 6.

10. Please describe some of the services that victims needed but you could not provide. What were the challenges that prevented you from providing these services?

Please discuss any services that victims need/have requested but could not be provided by the VOCA funded project. Challenges to providing these services can include issues such as funding, staffing levels, space needs, etc.

11. Please list the number of requests for services that were unmet during the preceding twelve month reporting period because of organizational capacity issues. Include a brief explanation for the reason.

This question is for active VOCA clients that need to be referred to another agency for a service. Reasons can include “your agency does not provide the service requested”; “is at service capacity and the client needs the service immediately”; etc. Do not count individuals who call the agency and are referred elsewhere without receiving any project services.

12. Does your organization formally survey clients for feedback on services received?

Please answer “yes” or “no”. If the answer is no, proceed to question 15.

13. Number of surveys distributed during the preceding twelve month period.

This includes those distributed by hand, mail, or other methods.The number should reflect the surveys that are distributed to VOCA clients. If your agency does not distinguish VOCA clients from other agency clients in its surveys, then report the total number of surveys sent out for the period, and make a note on the report that the number reflects total agency surveys.

14. Number of surveys completed during the preceding twelve month period.

The number should reflect the surveys that were completed by VOCA clients. If your agency does not distinguish VOCA clients from other agency clients in its surveys, then report the total number of surveys completed for the period, and make a note on the report that the number reflects total agency surveys.

15. Goals and objectives: Provide data to indicate progress towards meeting the project's goals and objectives during the preceding twelve month period.

Number of crime victims served

a. Please identify the total number of new victims projected to be served for the preceding twelve month period (July to June):

b. Please identify the actual number of new victims served for the preceding twelve month period (July to June):

c. Percentage of projection met:%

If the actual number of victims to be served was less than 90% of the projected number, please provide an explanation as to why the project did not serve the projected number of victims:

Objectives

Please list the objectives identified in the project scope of service document and the actual percentages for each objective.

Example: Eighty percent of adult victims will have increased knowledge of the Crime Victim Compensation Program Actual 75%

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

a. If the agency did not meet projections for an objective (more than a 10% difference), please discuss the reasons for not meeting the objective(s) and the agency’s efforts to improve results in the applicable area(s).

b. Describe the agency’s evaluation efforts for determining the degree to which objectives were met. Please discuss how evaluations were administered, what test instruments or questionnaires were used, and any challenges faced in the evaluation process. For coalition-based services, describe efforts at the subcontractor and coalition level.

c. How are the evaluation results used for project improvements (what decisions are being aided by the findings of the evaluation, efforts to refine the evaluation process and/or improve the project, etc.)?

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